MadCap Software Forums

Hihi,

I am wondering if anyone can tell me whether they think zipping the flare file in windows is more/less advantageous than using the Flare zipping function?
I'm trying to work out which method to use to backup our project and I'm sitting on the fence.

Reasons to use Flare zipping:
- it's neat and is only one file

Reasons to use Windows zipping:
- you don't need access to Flare to view the content of the folder, meaning you can view images, content files (etc) without opening Flare
- you can zip manually in Windows Explorer (and since I have to use that to do my backup it's all done at the same time)

That's about all I've got so far.
I've read Madcap's User Guide but it hasn't really told me why I would want to use their method over Windows Explorer (not that I really expected it to anyway, it's a user guide for Flare rather than a comparison)

Thanks!

I like the Flare zip method. It creates a proprietary zip file that only Flare can open, but when you unzip it, it opens Flare and Flare helps you unzip it into a new Flare project in whatever location you want and with whatever project name you want. It's simple because it is a one-click method to create the archive file.

For those reasons, I prefer the Flare zip method rather than going to Windows, selecting the files, right-clicking, naming, etc.

The one thing I wish is that Flare left out the Analyzer and Output folders from the zipped project, since it builds these dynamically when it needs them in the new project.

The .flprjzip file is an ordinary zip file with a few extra files to give Flare some information about what was zipped. Change the file extension to .zip, and open it as a zip file if you want to.

Note that Flare replaces spaces in filenames with %20, and probably adds some control information too, so if you want to open a Flare-zipped project in Flare, you will need to unzip it using Flare. If you unzip it using an ordinary zip utility, Flare won't be able to open it. So it is proprietary in the sense that you need Flare unzip in order to access Flare-zipped files using Flare.

The one thing I wish is that Flare left out the Analyzer and Output folders from the zipped project, since it builds these dynamically when it needs them in the new project.

Are you absolutely sure that Flare doesn't just add these folders dynamically after unzipping the project? True, when Flare unzips the project, it generates these folders, but I've never found them to contain any stuff that had come from my old project. They're certainly not included in the .flprjzip file.

An advantage of Flare zip is that it backs up only what Flare needs to recreate the project elsewhere, and since V10, you can now zip on a target level too, which is useful if you only need to send some of the targets in a project for translation.

But if what you want is a safe backup of your work exactly as you left it before you go home, you may find an ordinary zip is better, especially, if like me, you occasionally have other working files lying around in other folders in your Flare project. If they aren't below /Content or /Project, Flare won't include these.

Of course, the best way to backup is to use a source control system, but you may not be in a position to make that happen, I know.

I agree with Marjorie - I don't think it includes them.
Usually when you unzip, it unpacks and asks if you want to open the project. Try saying No and look at the project folder. The Output and Analyzer only appear once you open up the file.

Back to the original question - I use the Flare zip utility all the time now because it doesn't include the extra folders, which has the advantage of the Windows utility.

If you go with an external zipper then use 7zip and use the 7z compression. It compresses the archives much better than the standard zip. 7zip is free open source software and by now a rather popular format.

I think you're right about that. Yesterday I looked inside the Output folder of one I had just created (and opened) and I saw the "Paul" folder in the Output. I was in a hurry, so I mistakenly thought that meant all the contents of the Output folder had been re-created, but that was wrong.

Thanks for so many useful responses!

I have decided to go with standard zipping but for one reason only; that while we are waiting for source control, I want a way to store versioning information with the file so I zip this into the package. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably use the Flare zipping function.

Thanks for the suggestion about 7zip too -- I have used that recently to zip together all the contents for our web output. Worked beautifully (though I haven't tried unzipping it but I don't expect it to be a problem). Love that you can specify what size file(s) you'd like! I may use that for this case too.

Thanks again for all the help

Flare Zip will only contain the Project file, Content folder and Project Folder.

Folders that are local to users and should not be included in back ups:
Project\Users
Output
Analyzer
*Source Control (older projects)

Output folders can contain each uses output * each target. This folder can become very large.